Sacramento Bee is "All a Buzz" With a New Online Retail Initiative
The Opportunity
It would be hard to find a more robust, well-designed and innovative online shopping platform than the shopping pages of SacBee.com. With compelling editorial content, exciting technology that allows print ads that are incorporated within the platform to be searched by keyword, category or advertiser name; plus an e-mail alert application that let's readers be notified when ads are placed within the paper, Sac Bee has built the ultimate shopping environment.
The challenge beyond the platform's design was finding innovative product packaging along with an effective training program that would assist the Sac Bee traditional newspaper ad reps in being motivated to take the product to their local advertisers. The Blinder Group was approached and asked to meet that challenge and produce results.
Program Overview
The Blinder Group consulted with the traditional newspaper and online managers to find the best way the product could be deployed ensuring advertiser acceptance, as well as ease of presentation in the sales process. What was decided, was that the program created would have two separate online components, offered in an easy to explain, single offering to existing print advertisers. Firstly, advertisers would be offered a highly visible, online graphic link rotating on select pages of newspaper's Web site as well as on the home page of the new SacBee.com "PM Edition" (A new version of the Web site's home page the appears daily after 4pm). The content of the online ad would be generated from the advertisers print ad, and would link to a "pop up" "browser window" displaying the full version of the current newspapers ad. It was determined that if such a program was "taken to market" effectively, advertisers would see many values that include the ability to have their print message reach more potential customers through the expanded Web audience; as well as, increasing the "frequency" of exposure of their ad message, by having that message appear several thousand times a month online. All advertisers who participated in the program were to receive a guaranteed number of impressions for their ads that rotated (with other participating advertisers) on these Web pages. Secondly, each advertiser would also have their latest print ad included in the online shopping channel. This would award the advertiser the ability to have their ad searched by online readers, as well as be included in the "My Personal Shopper" e-mail alert application, so those who registered for the service, would be notified if this ad, or its content meant the criteria of the information they were looking for. Advertisers were offered both the online graphic ads along with inclusion in SacBee.com's shopping channel for a full year, for a single monthly fee.
Sales Strategy
The Blinder Group took advantage of the in-depth readership information that the Sac Bee had garnered concerning their print and online audiences, and developed compelling sales support materials, that easily described the features and benefits of the program. Several motivational training sessions for the traditional ad reps were hosted by The Blinder Group to explain the program and the sales process. SacBee.com provided cash and prize incentives to keep the ad reps (and their managers) "psyched" through the process. Then, the Blinder Group deployed a team of associates that spent a full week performing "4-legged" assisted sales training/ closing calls with the outside sales people, on local advertisers. These calls were designed to not only "close" business, but to train the reps on how to present the online components effectively to their advertisers.
Results
Advertiser acceptance was strong as this program garnered high "closing ratios" when presented to qualified businesses who could benefit from including their ads within the online components. More importantly, many of the Sac Bee traditional newspaper ad reps embraced the concept of selling online products to their advertisers, by seeing how easy the process is as well as the financial reward they can realize. SacBee.com benefited with over $100,000 of new online revenue generated over the 5-days, as a direct result of the effort. "The Blinder Group succeeded in helping us craft an online program that could be taken to market effectively by the newspaper's traditional sales reps." stated Ed Canale, VP of Strategic Planning and New Media for the Sacramento (CA) Bee. "Their performance met our expectations, from the planning process, to effective training to the "4-legged" sales calls they conducted with the Bee's sales team. We reached our goal of having our print sales force realize the value of bringing more online products to their customers."
The Sacramento (CA) Bee is a dominant regional newspaper reaching more than 950,000 adult readers each day. SacBee.com reaches over 350,000 adult readers a day, with the combined products impacting over 1,000,000 adults. For more local information on the local sales strategy of this program, contact:
Kelly Shively, Online AD Mgr Sacramento (CA) Bee
916 552 5200
kshively@sacbee.com
Lead consultant for The Blinder Group:
Mike Blinder
(917) 865-4827
mike@blindergroup.com
The Blinder Group
Tampa Offices: 6139 Fjord Way
New Port Richey, FL 34652 USA
(727) 847-2464 ~ (727) 847-5959 (fax)
profit@blindergroup.com
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